Since I’m a dress addict living in a state with seasons, black tights are my lifeline in the winter months, allowing me to wear my beloved limb-baring pieces year-round. I was never precious about where I got my tights. (To me, they are a boring means to an end—not so much a part of my look, more like a necessary layer that didn’t command any attention.) Plus, finding the best black tights in the market didn’t feel like a totally urgent task. I just needed any ones that, ideally, didn’t rip on the first wear.

In fact, I had the one pair that I’d owned for an indefinite amount of time, from a brand I’d definitely forgotten, that I always reached for—until one faithful morning I noticed a thigh-length run on one leg. For some reason, that got to me: I was running late, I was already half dressed, and I couldn’t bear the thought of wearing…pants. So I did what anyone on a time crunch in need of a quick fix to a problem would: I went to the nearest pharmacy chain.

Anyone who’s been to a local drugstore has noticed the miscellaneous undergarments section, where you can pick up stockings and undershirts before grabbing some hair ties and shampoo. I’d walked past it a million times at my neighborhood Walgreens—and this time the $5.99 opaque tights on the display called my name.

I bought the first and only pair I saw in my size: West Loop Sheer-to-Waist Opaque Tights. I thought of it as a band-aid solution to my timely problem—little did I know, the actual best black tights I’d ever own had been sitting next to the half-off scrunchies this entire time.

There weren’t any fireworks or foot pops. It was only when I’d worn them for a week straight that I realized what an incredible discovery I’d made. No joke, these tights stood up against back-to-back wears without tearing, losing shape, or fading. (Laundry is expensive, OK?) The waistband doesn’t pinch my stomach like the so-called control-top pairs I’d tried before, and they sit at my natural waist, so I don’t have to pull them up over my stomach to my rib cage for a smooth line. Also, they’re $5.99—at my usual go-to stores, tights start at $19.50 (J.Crew) and can go all the way up to $285 (Wolford).

But the best part of this whole saga was realizing that a solution to my fashion #problems was right around the corner. Rip my tights on a sharp desk corner at work? I can hop over to the nearest drugstore. Scratched by the dog I couldn’t resist petting? There’s a replacement pair one block away, all for less than a breakfast sandwich. When I leave New York City to visit family in other states over the holidays, I don’t have to worry about what happens if I forget to pack tights—there are Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aids everywhere.

When I reach the point in my life when I want to spend money on name-brand tights, I’ll consider setting change aside for an extra-special pair with a silk tag. For that easy, basic pair I’ll wear every winter until then, these will do the trick.

West Loop Sheer-to-Waist Opaque Tights, $5.99, Walgreens

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